I’ve cobbled together a post out of Nyla’s Ukulele, Cat Green Bike, Kimya Dawson, and Conor McAteer. There may be a vague point to it. Especially when communication often gets lost in a barrage of loud noise.
Last night’s Ghost Mice (USA) show in Dundee organised by Make-That-A-Take was opened by a girl called Nyla. The gig poster described her as “anti-folk along the lines of Kimya Dawson/ONSIND“. Standing there in the corner of the room with only her ukulele, she managed to conjure up more warmth, wit and humanity than a lot of indie bands I’ve seen over the years.
Today’s loose theme is therefore about the ukulele. Or whatever constitutes the made-up genre that is anti-folk.
Truth be told, I know very little about the UK ukulele scene apart from a few notable exceptions. Bristol’s CAT GREEN BIKE has played a few ukulele scene events and had airplay on regional radio stations. Here’s a recent live performance.
Make That A Take don’t need kudos from anyone but I’ll say it anyway – it’s brilliant to see DIY shows still going strong in Dundee despite all the turmoil with venues moving and closing down.
Nyla’s own performance was memorable and it’d be great to see her opening more acoustic and experimental shows. The reference points weren’t far off the mark either. The movie Juno introduced the music of Kimya Dawson to a much wider audience so for any non-music obsessives it might sound familiar!
As it’s required by law for artists to have a bandcamp page, further exploration is possible via the site’s tagging of all ukulele artists.
Can I stretch this anti-folk made up genre piece to include the fact that my friend Conor McAteer is opening for Billy Bragg in Derry? Oh, I don’t see why not. That’s Friday 30th August, Nerve Centre Derry.
And if you know of anyone worth checking out that’s ukulele inclined, post a link in the comments section. Cheers.
UPDATE: I’ve since come across Zoe Bestel. There’s another one!
LISTEN TO CAT GREEN BIKE ON YOUTUBE
LISTEN TO CONOR MCATEER ON HIS SITE
Thanks Andy! And on my birthday too.x